The embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are vehicles, methods and systems for transporting persons, robots or cargo that enable efficient transportation, where such transportation is taken to broadly encompass movement of persons, robots and cargo over different surfaces, obstacles, difficult terrain and climbing stairs.
Humans and cargo are transported by many common forms of vehicles and transportation methods. Many of said vehicles have either one or two power-driven axles. Such vehicles may include wheelchairs, carts, carriages, automobiles, wagons, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, chariots, gurneys and the like. However, presently vehicles in use have several drawbacks.
First, typically such vehicles cannot climb stairs while keeping their platform and rider level. Also, such vehicles often cannot climb over certain obstacles or overcome obstacles such as a curb of a sidewalk. In addition, such vehicles typically cannot climb onto a van or truck without assistance from a ramp or a lift gate, while the van or truck is stationary or in motion. Generally, presently vehicles cannot easily maneuver over many obstacles.
Second, while there are many vehicles that can transport multiple individuals and a payload, many such vehicles are not lightweight and capable of navigating or climbing over obstacles, climbing stairs and also of transporting more than one individual rapidly on common surfaces such as roads and sidewalks. Wheelchair devices are not made to transport more than one individual, defeating the portability purposes of having a lightweight device for different terrains, stairs, and for common surfaces such as floors as well as for transporting more than one individual over obstacles and to locations which may be miles apart.
Most common vehicles such as automobiles, motorcycles, wheelchairs and gurneys, place all of their points of ground contacts such as wheels on the ground all at the same time, such that when there is an obstacle in the road, such vehicles must run over such obstacle. Often, this results in passengers either feeling bumps or having the entire platform or chassis incline rather than staying level. Some conditions present insurmountable obstacles for conventional two or four-wheel vehicles. As an exemplary, the bottom of a chassis or the axle of a vehicle may be incapable of moving over an obstacle. Presently most vehicles generally cannot climb stairs or over curbs of a sidewalk, or over certain obstacles.
Accordingly, it is desirable to create a device which solves the above disadvantages by improving the capabilities of vehicles to effectively climb stairs, climb over objects in their path yet still fulfill the goals of mobility and having the platform remain stable and level over larger distances for one or more passengers, or a robot and a payload. Such systems and vehicles may be used to provide efficient transportation for a broad range of users, including providing an assistive technology that fulfills the goals of flexible and portable transportation over a range of surfaces, over obstacles and for climbing stairs. This invention relates to a vehicle with horizontally extending and retracting rods for positioning ground contacting modules over and past an obstacle and upon stairs and with vertically extending and retracting rods for elevating or lowering the vehicle or for lifting or lowering ground contacting modules.